华盛顿——根据参议院民主党人周三发布的一份报告，在新任邮政局长下令对美国邮政业务进行重大改革后，今年夏天邮购处方药的交付明显推迟。
该报告反驳了路易·德约伊的公开声明，即他最近采取的措施“不应影响任何人”。“
报告发现，在冠状病毒大流行期间，通过邮件订购的处方药数量增加了五分之一，药物的交付时间通常增加了三分之一。报告称，这意味着以前需要两三天的分娩现在需要额外的一天。
有些延误要长得多。一家报告中未指明的邮购药店表示，“7月份出现7天或更长时间装运延迟的患者数量明显增加。”另一家药店报告称，五天以上的订单“大幅增加”。\ ' \ '
森说:“我指责邮政局长延误处方投递，危及美国人民的健康。”伊丽莎白·沃伦，D-Mass。沃伦周三与宾夕法尼亚州参议员鲍勃·凯西一起发布了这份报告。两位参议员都在参议院老龄问题特别委员会和参议院卫生、教育、劳动和养老金委员会任职。
在国会大厦的新闻发布会上，沃伦承认这场流行病增加了美国人对邮件的依赖，给邮政服务带来了“一些压力”。但她表示，对此的回应应该是“投入更多资源，这样邮局就能保持准时送货。她说，相反，德约伊“削减了资源”，并采取了其他措施，让准时交货变得更加困难他走的方向完全相反。"
这份长达9页的报告是基于美国五家提供邮购服务的最大药店和药房福利经理的信息，包括Cigna/Express Scripts、CVS Health、Walgreens Boots Alliance、UnitedHealth/Optum和Humana。参议院工作人员还与代表药房福利经理和专科药房的患者权益团体和国家协会进行了交谈。
一位邮政发言人说，该机构的工作人员，“像许多其他人一样，受到了新冠肺炎危机的影响，这场危机导致了某些服务中断。\ ' \ '
发言人戴夫·帕滕汉默(Dave Partenheimer)说，官员们正在“积极努力确保整个网络的全面服务覆盖，包括根据当地需求增加招聘和改善流程”。他说，每周的业绩数据显示出积极的趋势，“我们乐观地认为这些趋势将会持续下去”。
在给邮政服务理事会的一封信中，沃伦和凯西敦促迅速采取行动“扭转服务中的这些失误”，他们说这些失误“代表着持续的公共健康威胁”。\ ' \ '
“我们知道路易斯·德约伊正在破坏邮政服务，”沃伦说他需要辞职，如果他不辞职，董事会必须罢免他。"
这份报告发布之际，一个政府监督团体要求北卡罗来纳州当局调查德约伊的指控，称他向其前公司的员工施压，要求他们向共和党人捐款，然后非法向这些员工发放奖金。
这些指控出现之际，德约伊已经在接受严格审查，因为他推动了邮政服务的一系列改革，这些改革推迟了投递，并引发了人们对该机构将如何处理今年秋天创纪录的邮寄选票的担忧。
北卡罗来纳州共同事业组织周三向州选举委员会提交了正式投诉，并要求北卡罗来纳州司法部长乔希·斯坦(Josh Stein)调查这些指控。众议院民主党人正在调查。
德约伊的前公司新品种物流公司的五名前员工告诉《华盛顿邮报》，德约伊或他的助手敦促他们给共和党候选人捐款，或参加在他格林斯博罗豪宅举行的高价筹款活动。另两名前雇员告诉该报，德约伊随后将向捐赠更多奖金的员工发放奖金，以抵消竞选捐款的成本。
北卡罗来纳州共同事业组织的执行董事鲍勃·菲利普斯(Bob Phillips)表示:“路易斯·德约伊(Louis DeJoy)涉嫌实施的这一令人不安的筹资计划，似乎绕过了北卡罗来纳州的竞选资金限制，以非法购买政治准入，讨好当选官员。”“这些指控应该得到彻底调查，如果属实，德约伊必须承担责任。”
鼓励员工向候选人捐款并不违法，但向他们报销以避免联邦竞选捐款限制是违法的。
国家发言人选举美国董事会拒绝置评。斯坦说，“任何关于这种行为的可信指控都应该由适当的州和联邦当局进行调查”，包括联邦选举委员会和州选举s板。
德约伊的私人发言人蒙蒂·哈格勒(Monty Hagler)在本周的一份声明中表示，德约伊不知道有任何工人感到捐款的压力，德约伊认为他一直遵守竞选筹款法律。
竞选财务披露显示，在2000年至2014年新品种出售期间，100多名员工向德约伊及其家人支持的共和党候选人捐赠了超过61万美元。这个数字不包括德约伊及其家人给共和党政客的100多万美元。
记录显示，今年面临艰难连任竞选的北卡罗来纳州共和党参议员汤姆·提利斯(Thom Tillis)是最大的获奖者，在2014年选举前，他从35名以上的公司员工那里筹集了超过19万美元。捐款都是在9月底至10月第一周的短暂时间内完成的。
凯西说，德约伊减缓邮件传递的行为“对依赖邮政服务的人产生了真正的——潜在的生命威胁——后果。他说，理事会必须让德约伊“对这次破坏负责，国会必须提供美国邮政紧急资金”。
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伊萨吉尔从西弗吉尼亚州的查尔斯顿报道。美联社在纽约卡内基公司的支持下制作了这篇报道。
Dem report: Postal Service changes delay prescription drugs
WASHINGTON -- Delivery of mail-order prescription drugs was delayed significantly this summer after the new postmaster general ordered major changes in U.S. Postal Service operations, according to a report released Wednesday by Senate Democrats.
The report contradicts public claims by Louis DeJoy that the recent moves he imposed “should not have impacted anybody.″
Prescription drug orders filled by mail have risen by one-fifth during the coronavirus pandemic, the report found, and delivery times for medications generally increased by as much as one-third. That means deliveries that previously took two days or three days now take an extra day, the report said.
Some delays were much longer. One mail-order pharmacy, not identified in the report, said there was “a marked increase in July in the number of patients experiencing shipment delays of seven days or more." A different pharmacy reported that orders taking over five days have "risen dramatically.''
“I blame the postmaster general for delays in prescription deliveries that put the health of the American people at risk,'' said Sen.Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. Warren released the report Wednesday with Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa. Both senators serve on the Senate Special Committee on Aging and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
At a Capitol news conference, Warren acknowleged the pandemic has “put some stress” on the Postal Service by increasing Americans' reliance on the mail. But she said the response should have been to “put more resources in, so the post office can maintain on-time delivery.'' Instead, DeJoy “cut resources” and took other steps to make on-time delivery more difficult, she said. “He's gone in exactly the opposite direction.”
The nine-page report was based on information from five of the nation's largest pharmacies and pharmacy benefit managers that provide mail order service, including Cigna/Express Scripts, CVS Health, Walgreens Boots Alliance, UnitedHealth/Optum and Humana. Senate staff also talked to patient advocacy groups and national associations representing pharmacy benefit managers and specialty pharmacies.
A Postal Service spokesman said the agency's workforce, "like many others, have been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, which has resulted in certain service disruptions.''
Officials are “aggressively working to ensure full service coverage across the network, including increasing hiring based on local needs and improving process flows,'' spokesman Dave Partenheimer said. Weekly performance data show positive trends ”and we are optimistic these trends will continue,'' he said.
In a letter to the Postal Service Board of Governors, Warren and Casey urged quick action to “reverse these lapses in services," which they said "represent an ongoing public health threat.''
“We know Louis DeJoy is sabotaging the Postal Service,″ Warren said. "He needs to resign and if he won’t, the board of governors must remove him.”
The report came as a government watchdog group asked authorities in North Carolina to investigate DeJoy over allegations that he pressured staffers at his former business to donate to Republicans and then illegally reimbursed those staffers with bonuses.
The allegations emerged as DeJoy is already under intense scrutiny for pushing through a series of changes at the Postal Service that have delayed deliveries and raised concerns over how the agency will process the expected record number of mail-in ballots this fall.
Common Cause North Carolina filed a formal complaint with the state Board of Elections Wednesday and asked North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein to investigate the allegations. House Democrats are investigating.
Five former employees of DeJoy's former company, New Breed Logistics, told The Washington Post that DeJoy or his aides urged them to give money to GOP candidates or attend high-priced fundraisers at his Greensboro mansion. DeJoy would then give staffers who donated larger bonuses to offset the cost of the campaign contributions, two other former employees told the newspaper.
“This troubling fundraising scheme allegedly perpetrated by Louis DeJoy has the appearance of bypassing North Carolina’s campaign finance limits in order to illicitly buy political access and curry favor with elected officials,” said Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina. "These allegations should be thoroughly investigated and, if true, Mr. DeJoy must be held accountable.”
It’s not illegal to encourage employees to contribute to candidates, but it is illegal to reimburse them as a way of avoiding federal campaign contribution limits.
A spokesman for the stateelections board decline to comment. Stein has said that "any credible allegations of such actions merit investigation by the appropriate state and federal authorities,″ including the Federal Election Commission and the stateelections board.
Monty Hagler, a private spokesperson for DeJoy, said in a statement this week that DeJoy was unaware any workers felt pressure to make donations and that DeJoy believes he has always complied with campaign fundraising laws.
Campaign finance disclosures show that between 2000 and 2014, when New Breed was sold, more than 100 employees donated over $610,000 to Republican candidates that DeJoy and his family supported. The figure excludes more than $1 million that DeJoy and family members gave to Republican politicians.
GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who is facing a tough reelection race this year, was a top recipient, collecting more than $190,000 from over 35 company workers ahead of his 2014 election, records show. The contributions were all made during a short window of time, between the end of September and the first week of October.
Casey said DeJoy’s actions to slow mail delivery “are having real — potentially life threatening — consequences for people that depend on the Postal Service.″ The board of governors must hold DeJoy ”accountable for this sabotage, and Congress must provide emergency USPS funding,'' he said.
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Izaguirre reported from Charleston, West Virginia. The Associated Press produced this coverage with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
